White House clears one of the ‘biggest unknown’ around DOGE, and it does ‘not have’ Elon Musk

The White House has officially named Amy Gleason as the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), clarifying that tech billionaire Elon Musk is not formally leading the controversial cost-cutting agency despite his public prominence in its operations.
The announcement comes after days of ambiguity in courtrooms and press briefings about who legally heads the organization. Just a day earlier, Department of Justice lawyer Bradley Humphreys told Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that he didn’t know if anyone was serving as administrator, raising constitutional concerns about the agency’s leadership structure.
Gleason, 53, previously served in the US Digital Service (USDS) from 2018 to 2021 and returned in January 2025 as the agency was renamed to serve DOGE’s efforts. Between government roles, she worked as chief product officer at healthcare startups Russell Street Ventures and Main Street Health, both founded by Brad Smith, who worked in Trump‘s first administration.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier refused to identify DOGE’s administrator from the podium, telling reporters only that “career officials and political appointees” were helping run the department alongside Musk, who serves as a special government employee and advisor to President Donald Trump.
The clarification comes amid growing scrutiny of DOGE’s operations, including legal challenges from state attorneys general and reports that 21 USDS employees resigned Tuesday in protest of what they described as “significant security risks” created by the agency. Musk, despite not being the formal administrator, will attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting alongside confirmed department secretaries.